Shawn Spencer
Shawn Spencer (b. February 1977) is a pseudo-psychic part-time employed by the Santa Barbara Police Department. He is the son of Henry and Madeline Spencer. He is currently dating Juliet O'Hara. Shawn is the main protagonist of the television series Psych. He is portrayed by James Roday. Biography Shawn Spencer hails from a family of cops, and was fully expected to carry the torch by his father who meticulously schooled his son from a very young age in the finer points of detective work. He also has an eidetic memory, most likely inherited from his mother. But while Henry gave his son all the tools that he needed, Shawn became a rebel in his senior year of high school, and his father arrested him to teach him a lesson. It soon becomes clear that Shawn's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction are still no match for his overdeveloped sense of fun, as he takes a string of random jobs strictly for enjoyment (57 since high school) and entertains himself calling in tips to the police hotline for crimes he sees on television. And then one night, one of Shawn's tips lead police somewhere he never imagined -- back to him. It seems detectives believe information this precise could only have come from the inside, and Shawn is the suspect. Desperate to avoid jail time, Shawn hastily explains that his insight is really second sight - he's a psychic. He then uses his observational skills to convince them of his special abilities. And though skeptical, the department is impressed and Shawn is hired on as a "psychic consultant". He is also proven to be brave and a little too cocky even with a gun to his face. Shawn wastes no time in enlisting the assistance of his reluctant best friend, Gus, who is the much more practical and hard working of the two. Shawn, along with Gus, opens his own agency, Psych, taking his talent for detective work -- and fun -- in a new direction. Shawn uses a set of unique skills to solve crimes for the Santa Barbara Police Department, and sometimes for private clients who hire him on the side. His eye for detail, outside-the-box thinking, and throw-caution-to-the-wind-to-follow-a-hunch attitude make him excellent at following and solving cases. But Shawn is not content to just be a good 'detective.' He loves attention, he wants to leave people speechless and impressed, so he pretends to be a psychic and 'divine' his deductions in often hilarious 'psychic episodes.' He is naturally dramatic, and his acute observation skills enable him to make almost uncanny deductions, so it isn't a hard act to pull off. Personality Shawn is above all else attention-seeking. All of his "episodes," need to have an audience, and he is (usually) never seen alone. Eccentric and outgoing, Shawn also seems to be able to draw people to him, leading to fast friendships, such as in Lights, Camera... Homicidio, when he befriends one of the actors in a matter of hours, to which Juliet questions how he can make friends so fast. Shawn also talks way too much, usually showing disregard for serious matters/situations or running his mouth in the face of a criminal who would rather Shawn stay quiet. Sometimes this trait saves his life while he stalls for time, and other times jepordizes it. Using his "gift," Shawn also has no problems being slightly manipulative, usually lying to others about who he is (zoologist, hair analyst, etc.) or telling people what they want to hear based off of his observations of them. This sometimes leads to trouble as well, especially when his rouse is found out. He also displays unnatural lack of danger, rushing into situations most people (especially Gus) would think twice about. Yet on the other hand, he also shows irrational fear over smaller incidents - such as ghosts or dead bodies. Events such as these usally follow with him and Gus screaming and running. Friends and Family Shawn is always accompanied (usually with protests and stinging sarcasm) by his best friend, Burton Guster or 'Gus' for short, who plays along with the charade, and the two are typically engaged in some type of humorous witty banter. Shawn typically introduces Gus to potential clients or suspects using a wide array of creative and often humorous aliases. Gus is the "straight man" in the duo, and keeps Shawn from losing sight of where he is going. Gus is also one of the few people who know that Shawn is not actually a psychic. This enables him to better help Shawn keep up his ruse, and also ensures that he is not duped by any of Shawn's antics. Gus occasionally assists Shawn in his psychic revelations. Shawn often conveys his brilliant observations in the form of obscure movie references, typically from the eighties. His seemingly random and disparate comments often lead people, most notably Detective Carlton Lassiter, to dismiss him as immature and scatterbrained. However, it is often Shawn's unconventional way of investigating a case, and his unique perspective on evidence, that allows him to see things that other people miss. Shawn also had a short-lived relationship with highschool sweetheart Abigail Lytar, from the last episode of the third season to the tenth episode of the fourth season, in which she informs Shawn that she is traveling to Uganda for six months, and that she wants to put their relationship on hold until she came back. Shawn agrees to this, and they continue a long distance relationship until the season four finale, where Abigail visits, gets kidnapped and almost killed by the psychopathic killer Mr. Yin, and ultimately decides that she can not handle the stress of Shawn's lifestyle. Shawn is also sometimes aided in his cases by his father Henry, an ex-cop who raised him with the incredible skills that make him so observant as an adult. Shawn's relationship with his father was strained before the Shawn began to work for the Santa Barbara police department, but gradually improves as the series continues. His mother, Henry's ex-wife, is Madeleine Spencer, a psychologist. For five seasons, Shawn and Detective Juliet O'Hara engaged in a classic will-they-or-won't-they relationship. It was clear Shawn had feelings for Juliet, but she had sent mixed signals throughout the show. Juliet finally confirmed her feelings for Shawn in the last episode of the third season, after he faces the killer Mr. Yang. Although Shawn clearly still wanted to be more than friends, he decided he had to turn her down, because he was on a date when she asked him out. After hearing him proclaim his love for her to Gus, Juliet kisses Shawn regardless of the fact that she was going to go on a romantic getaway with her then-current boyfriend Declan Rand, in One, Maybe Two, Ways Out. Shawn almost lost her even after this fact after she thought that they missed the moment, in Extradition II: The Actual Extradition Part, but after he compares he makes a statement that he would give up his motorcycle, which he thought of as the purest form of freedom, they begin dating at the end of the episode. Shawn and Juliet's relationship will need to overcome a variety of obstacles going forward. In Neil Simon's Lovers Retreat, Juliet mentions expectations, and Shawn starts to worry that he isn't meeting her expectations. They have a long talk, and Juliet tells Shawn that their relationship is beyond what she could have expected. When he questions marriage, she tells him not to feel presured to marry yet, because she doesn't. However, Gus discovers a ring hidden inside Shawn's Nintendo DS, which was stolen, then returned. Category:Characters